Paper Wheels, Meet My Friends from the Swamp

Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.

Huntsman Knife Co. LLC.

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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My brother and I decided to try paper wheel sharpening. We picked up a bench grinder and with some advice from Richard J purchased two excellent wheels. We also bought the wheels for a 4 stage polish but haven't tried it yet. I thought it would take me a few weeks at least to get good enough that I would feel comfortable sharpening my rats and dogs. Wrong, paper wheels are incredibly intuitive, I sharpened 3 kitchen knives before I felt that I could put a proper edge on some real blades. All 3 knives took about 3 minutes each. Not bad for the first day :D If you haven't tried paper wheels DO IT. It's so fast and the edges you get are spooky.

The pictures aren't very good but The lighting in my house is very poor and the edge wasn't captured without the flash. The stuff on the regulator that looks rough is just jewelers compound that didn't come off. These baby's are all wicked sharp just like they should be :D

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Very nice job! :thumbup: I have the recommended paper wheels from Richard also. Haven't had time to try them yet, this weekend might be good though. Looking forward to it. Congrats on those edges, lookin good!
 
looks like you got the hang of it. you'll have to bring up your knives for me to check out next month if you come up.
 
They are. I went to see how sharp it was by shaving some hair off my leg and it took some of my skin with it. Ive never reached this level of sharpness before. Its really awesome :D
 
kalel, have you tried a coarse belt and finished it off on the slotted wheel?

steelnut, you need to come down sometime and we'll fine tune some of your knives :D. maybe kalel can come up also and i can teach both of you a few things at the same time.
 
That's the process I have been using. Its been fantastic, I haven't even tried using the polishing wheels yet because the finish from the slotted wheel is so nice.
 
the other wheels is the grit wheel that you use for a v edge. the wax goes on it to help keep the blade cool.
 
Kalel,
Can you elaborate on your setup. Did you order this from Woodcraft? Is it the razor sharp edgemaking system or other. I have been interested in this for awhile but was scared I might mess up my knives. Seems like the way to go. Nice looking work to my eyes.
 
Its the razor sharp setup from woodcraft. I think it was 50 bucks for the two wheels and the wax and jewlers rough for it. It all comes as a package. I've just been using those two wheels to get those results

And don't be scared about messing up your knives, just practice on a few old ones and you'll pick it up really quick. I did my para 2 after I had shaprened 2 knives.

If your knife is pretty dull start on the rough wheel and do 3, then 2 then 1 on each side and then go to the paper wheel and do the same and you will get some wicked edges. Just keep the angle consistent and try to match it to the factory angle.
 
great info guys... thx-gonna check out that setup as well-although I just invested in a bunch of pricey sharpening stones to do it the old fashioned way. The only way you can get it to look that good though is via a machine of some sort-belt sander, grinder or anything mechanical imho. Cant believe how quickly you were able to do some solid edges K. You are either a prodigy or those things work that well. Im sure it takes some time like anything to get to Richard's level. Thx a lot for the informative posts guys. Been racking my mind about this topic for months and I dont want to mess up my rats too.
 
CR33 said:
great info guys... thx-gonna check out that setup as well-although I just invested in a bunch of pricey sharpening stones to do it the old fashioned way. The only way you can get it to look that good though is via a machine of some sort-belt sander, grinder or anything mechanical imho. Cant believe how quickly you were able to do some solid edges K. You are either a prodigy or those things work that well. Im sure it takes some time like anything to get to Richard's level. Thx a lot for the informative posts guys. Been racking my mind about this topic for months and I dont want to mess up my rats too.
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Its really quick to learn. My edges aren't perfect, sometimes Ill hit the coating a bit or something like that on a bigger blade but for blades under like 10 inches it's pretty easy. I tried my waki and nicked up the coating a bunch but still got it sharp. Honestly you wont mess up any of your knives if you just practice a bit and keep the angle pretty consistant.You just match the angle and pull it across. I really think this is the best way to sharpen knives :thumbup:
 
when you get a chance to come up, i'll teach you some tricks that will help you out a lot. you'll like how i have my belt sander fixed up for convexing.
 
Richard,
What do you do different for the convex edges? Do you use the paper wheels or a different setup for convex edges.
 
i use my belt sander to do the convexing and finish off the edge with the slotted wheel.
i can use an 80 grit belt and finish off the edge with the slotted wheel and get a shaving sharp edge. you can maintain an edge for a long time with the slotted wheel better than a strop can in just a few passes.
 
I didn't know what sharp was before I met Richard and NorcalBlacktail. Those two gentlemen are the twin pillars of sharpening knowledge; Richard on the paper wheel, and NCB on the belt sander.
 
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